Asus has formally rolled out its Eee PC line of sub-notebook computers, a week after UK supplier RM - formerly Research Machines - spilled the beans on two of the models. The complete line-up comprises four computers.
Asus Eee PC 701 Asus' Eee PC and... er... Reg Hardware reader, yesterday
All four models are based around the …

XP on 4GB?

Where from?

I've been looking to get one of these for a while, one for just general slumming around in the lounge web browsing, and one for the parents so they can have something cheap and easy to check their email on... Seems idea... But where from, I can't see anything on the Asus site..

Smurf?

'disposable' laptop?

Like lots of people on here I do IT support .. I really like the idea of the HSDPA/WiFi equipped machine provided I can get it to VPN and run remote desktop connections (I'm sure SSH is a breeze)

so if you're away for the weekend (in my case sailing/windsurfing) then you can chuck it in the car and pull it out if needed..plus isn't it the ideal holiday laptop for backing up/displaying those photies and doing the odd bit of webbrowsing - like checking snow reports...

I really don't see the point

XP on 4Gb

XP on 4Gb works if you slipstream the latest patches and bloat-grades (like an upgrade but upgrade contains the word "up" implying upward movement, improvement, progression, augmentation of the system to make its performance better rather than a bunch of crufty hacks to work around chasms that shouldn't have been designed into the OS in the first place).

ye gods.. it's a laptop, not a PC

Strorage: room for expansion

I think you really have to consider the built-in storage as rerserved for your OS and any extra application you might want to install. For data storage I suppose you can use the SD slot or you can use an USB thumb drive. With 4 Gb cards and sticks widely availlable and 8Gb ones in the works I don't expect storage to be an issue. 4 GBs just for the OS and apps should be OK if you consider that winXP and most linux distros come on one CD.

What i would like to know however is if you can add extra apps to the built-in linux distribution and how big are the repositories? If I can install a few favorite applications such as Qcomicbook it can be a great little machine.

Me want!

Storage...

for extra storage, you can add an external hdd in a usb enclosure. But for checking email or reading webpages this isn't really needed. I'm sure soon, we will have a hdd/battery expander backplate for this system. Theoretically all you need is some plastic and standard components.

Btw, someone said it's not a pc. It has a vga and usb ports, so you can place it on a desk, plug in a monitor and keyboard+mouse. I'm sure that would make it a pretty nice and quiet system. (and it's cheap too) Running linux means it can be modded without too many problems, unlike hardware running locked down unix versions like the iphone.

Nice

Most of the time I travel with a laptop it's for reading mail, surfing, connecting to something bigger, and doing presentations. That looks like an excellent solution & a lot lighter to carry through airports than some 15" widescreen monstrosity. Dear Santa...

Tiny screen, poor battery life

All the publicity photos for this thing show it from behind, so you can't see how small the screen is. It takes up only a portion of the lid, with big gaps down either side. There were rumours that they were planning a version with a 10" 1024x768 screen, which would be more usable.

And a battery life of less than 3 hours is silly. Making it small means that it's ideal for use "on the go", yet you can't actually "go" very far before it packs up.

XP on flash drives

Eeek!

Well thats a class bit of side-boob, and I suppose the machine looks great in that photograph when I could take my eyes off the hot chick.

But then you look at the RM link that Dan Germain gave us, and it looks like one of those half arsed 'my first laptop' kiddy toys that you need those little plug in cartridges to add new apps to, and doesn't let you do anything with the files but print them to a parallel port.

On t'other hand...

... if you just want one for non-work use (web, email, uploading pics etc), get a Nokia N95 instead. Far more portable and its not like the screen's much smaller. Saves you carrying an iPod, phone, camera, camcorder and a laptop. And GPS. And you can watch your Sling content on it.

what's it for?

maybe I'm just not the target demographic, but I'm missing the point of this device. Web surfing, email on the go blah blah... my phone can do that - and it fits in my pocket. OK, this will do it better then my phone and will run linux, windows or whatever. But it's no real laptop replacement. What would I actually use it for? Answer: email. and web. and eh, email. For that price I'd go the extra mile and hack me an iPhone that won't get sand in the keys! ...maybe if i was writing a book on the go it would be useful.

I likey

I've been recently mulling over the idea of getting a portable computer, a laptop is physically too big, a smartphone/pda is limited in functionality, a UMPC appears to be ideal.

This Asus UMPC looks very nice for the price, but only no harddrive is a bit disappointing when they could've increased the size very slightly to accomodate a 1.8" single platter. BTW the screen res is 800x480.

The nicest looking UMPC I've seen, both looks and specs, is the Fujitsu LifeBook FMV-U8240, but where can I buy one?

Just what I need!

laptops in the 80s? You mean the Z88?

Might convert people to linux.

The joke is this thing has more grunt than my home server, that I pxe boot a couple of LTSP clients from (400mhz 256MB). Admitted, the server has a few hundred gig more disk. One of these beasties 3G network card for the road and it's the ultimate road warrior tool. With a solid state drive, you dont have to sleep it or hibernate it while your on the go.

it's so pretttttyyyy

Given the pricing in this country is rip off britain, this is one extra thing that makes me want to risk the pathetic US imposed hurdles for a quick trip to new york shopping. (Bend over, Cough, DNA and Finger prints, your life history, mums pet cat's DNA etc etc)

Once in a life time, go over max a credit card and buy all those things I can't get here without a second mortgage.

I want one of these a I am just wanting a little laptop for the web and typing stuff while sat in a comfy chair.

Must be a conspiracy, silly prices here to get us to go over there to shop... helicoptors... anyone else hear them???

RE: XP on 4GB?

Why not.

There are many utilities (e.g. nlite) that allow you to create your own customised CD of XP, provided you have a proper licenced one. It allows you to cut out a lot of stuff you dont need i.e. drivers, games, services etc.... The foreign languages takes up about 100MB alone.

XP on 4GB

As others have said, XP can shrink very nicely. We use XP embedded a lot, and with plenty of tweaks, even leaving in IE and WMP you can quiet easily get XP down to a 62MB install. It's all a matter of how ruthless you want to be at removing things, and what other things you then want to add...Java etc is a right pain to add. Don't expect Vista Embedded anytime soon though :P